Source: Reuter

Britain cracks down on underage drinking

By Gerrard Raven
LONDON (Reuter) Just as Britain moves to clamp down on
underage drinking, youngsters are getting hooked on
``alcopops'' alcoholic fruit drinks and lemonades which are
blamed for worsening the problem.
Critics say the sweet, garishlylabelled drinks are
cynically targeted at the young, and some retailers and pub
chains have reacted by banning them.
But campaigners against alcohol abuse and industry analysts
say action taken so far won't solve the problem.
The Labor government, which swept to power in May, has moved
fast to tackle what it says is a growing problem of drunken
rowdiness which is making life miserable for ordinary people in
many towns and cities.
Laws which came into force on August 1 allow the police to
seize alcohol from under18s drinking in public places.
The government also plans to make it a crime for an adult to
buy drink for youngsters and to allow local authorities to
employ ``alcocops'' young people who would go into pubs and
liquor stores to test whether proprietors were willing to serve
them with alcohol illegally.
``We have all seen drunken youngsters creating mayhem and
causing alarm and distress to the community,'' junior interior
minister Alun Michael said in a statement introducing the new
measures. ``We are determined to tackle disorder and antisocial
behavior.''

EXTENT OF UNDERAGE DRINKING
Research by Michael's department, the Home Office, suggests
that a quarter of 1213 years olds and nearly a third of 1415
year olds taste alcopops in a typical week.
The government has given the drinks industry a year to prove
that it is not aiming products such as alcopops at young people.
Many adults suspect the gaudilylabelled products with names
like Hooch, Vanilla Heist and Lemon Jag are deliberately aimed
at youngsters who are not attracted by more traditional lager or
bitter beer.
After convicting a 14yearold boy for attempting to burn
down his school while high on alcoholic lemonade, Judge Peter
Lakin told a court in Bolton, northern England: ``My view is
that it is grossly irresponsible of drinks companies to market
these drinks and dress up alcohol as soft drinks.''
But the industry argues that other drinks are more popular
with these age groups and insists the attacks on alcopops are
misguided.
``Demonizing alcopops will not help solve the problem of
underage drinking,'' said a spokesman for Bass brewers, whose
Hooch is the market leader.
``Research has shown that strong lagers, ciders and
fortified wines are the drinks of choice for underage drinkers.
It would be much more beneficial if pubs told their bar staff to
demand proof of age before they served young people.''
One British alcopop company, the Spilt Drinks Company,
provoked further outrage when it said its own alcopop, Jammin',
was not aimed at young people but at ``bored housewives.''
The government says it may step in to regulate the sale of
alcopops unless a code of selfregulation drawn up by the
industry body the Portman Group proves effective.
The code tightens restrictions on packaging and labelling,
and bans marketing techniques such as suggesting a link between
the product and sexual success or prowess.

RETAILERS TAKE ACTION
But retailers have already begun to act.
The Cooperative Wholesale Society announced this summer that
it would no longer stock alcopops in its liquor stores. Then
trendy pub chain operator J.D. Wetherspoon banned the drinks
from its bar shelves.
``Alcopops have had a lot of bad publicity...we simply do
not want to be associated with the controversy,'' said
Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin in a statement.
Mark Bennett, spokesman for the pressure group Alcohol
Concern, criticized the government for failing to stand up to
the brewing industry.
``It is not the licensees (of pubs and liquor stores) who
invented the alcopops problem,'' he told Reuters. ``It is the
manufacturers, and yet the manufacturers are still getting away
with a fairly easy system of selfregulation.''
Dermott Carr, brewing industry analyst at brokers Nikko
Securities, said he doubted the action taken so far by the
government, which includes modest tax increases on alcopops,
would have more than a minimal impact on young people's drinking
habits.

``Are we ever going to stop youngsters drinking? The answer
is probably no,'' he said.
REUTER